CHAPTER XX. 



THE FRUIT. 

 I. PARTS OF THE FRUIT. 



307. The fruit of the plant is the final result of the work of 

 the flower. The seed is formed in connection with the fruit, 

 usually within the fruit. It is the end or aim for which the plant 

 throughout its life has been working, in order that through the 

 seed the plant may be multiplied, distributed,* and invigorated. 

 The word seed is often used to denote any reproductive body 

 which may be planted or " sown " to reproduce that plant again. 

 In a strict sense, however, seeds are only formed by the true seed 

 plants, f The seed in this sense consists of the ripened ovule 

 containing the embryo plant. The ovule has one or two coats 

 (integuments ) ( fi g . 



143) which become 

 in the ripe seed the 

 seed coats. The 

 ovule is formed with- 

 in the ovary. In 

 many plants the walls 

 of the ovule are free 

 from the wall of the Fig. 147. 



OVary, as in the pea, at rfghtf^ne^in section r shewing a Se 'seed Se^thl 3d 



bean, etc, so that the ovarywalh 



seed when ripe becomes free from the wall of the ovary and 



separates by the splitting of the fruit. 



308. The fruit consists of the ripened ovary including the 

 seed, and in many cases other accessory parts of the flower as 



* It must be remembered that many plants multiply and become dis- 

 tributed in other ways also. 



t The Spermatophyta, including the gymnosperms and angiosperms. 



187 



